


A Girl Lost In Gotham

by cassacain



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Study, F/F, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassacain/pseuds/cassacain
Summary: All her life, Cassandra only knew darkness. At eight years old, Bruce saved her from the League of Shadows, and, at nine, she joined his crusade against crime as Robin. With Alfred and Bruce Cassandra finally has the family she always dreamed of, but something’s missing. She has few answers for her past and plenty of uncertainty about her future and, all the while, she feels she might get lost in Gotham’s darkness. And then she met Stephanie Brown.Pt. 1 of Wings of Gotham





	1. Who The Heck Is Spoiler?

**Author's Note:**

> Right now, I plan for this to be a longterm project dedicated to exploring Stephanie and Cassandra as characters, as well as their unique relationship/dynamic. Please, if you want to, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. Constructive criticism is appreciated, and any encouragement or praise will make my day.

Gotham had a way of swallowing people.

Robin perched on a rooftop, cradled by tall buildings as she crouched on the edge of a gargoyle, breathing in the acrid fumes of her city. She shuts her eyes beneath her dark domino mask, opening them again and looking out. At nighttime, Gotham is ink-black except for the tint of green haze in the air above the city, and the omnipresent neon glare of a million signs.

Gotham was crowded with these signs. Neon advertisement, bold and bright against the darkness, eerie bursts of light to draw in Gothamites like bugs, so they could plummet into one or several of Gotham’s pits of vice. Robin stood stark against this, but the neon light consumed her, making her just another slip of shadow.

She moved quickly and subtly, grappling out with a snap. She swung between the buildings, the air cold and sharp against her bare cheeks, her lips. The thing about grappling through the city was that it resulted in fiercely chapped lips.

But chapped lips weren’t what was on Robin’s mind. Instead, she was thinking of her mission. Tonight, Gotham had swallowed yet another person: a little girl. Batman had trusted Robin to find her, but without Batman beside her, Robin felt as lost as the little girl she was searching for.

When Robin was alone, there were no playful comments or snark. Instead, it was just her and Gotham looming over her, surrounding her on all sides. She was so small and Gotham was so large. And then, there were Gotham’s children...so angry, so violent.

Robin had been born Cassandra Cain, and she had been born to violence, raised in violence...yet, there was nothing she despised more than violence. She was skilled in it; if violence was painting, she was Picasso. Yet, she was so afraid of it that when she was alone, without Batman standing behind her…

Well, she felt it. She felt it hard, in that place beside her heart where her worries manifested as little sharp pains. Reminders of what she had been and could be again, if she didn’t stick to Batman’s code and if she didn’t stay by his side.

Nights like these, Robin missed Batman. Not to say she didn’t appreciate the independence, but crime fighting was best as a two-man show. Taking a deep breath, she kicked off a building, shooting her grappling gun into an adjacent building. She quickly spun, grabbing the side of the building and climbing onto it in one swooping motion. She landed perfectly, without a sound, and took a moment to collect her grappling gun and put it away.

In front of her sat the Iceberg Lounge, with its bright blue neon signs with their cute little penguins. One of them waved a neon flipper innocently at Robin, as though it were saying hi. She smirked at the cute little penguin, but beneath her smile was disgust.

Obviously, the Iceberg Lounge made good money, but it was just a cover. Robin was overly familiar with the trash of Gotham, and she knew Penguin well enough to realize he was hugely into human trafficking. If she started with him, she would likely find the girl faster than if she fooled around combing the streets. Even if he wasn’t directly involved, he should recognize her face or have an idea of who was currently making human trafficking moves in Gotham.

Creeping along, Robin noticed movement below her in one of the second story windows, belonging to the empty buildings behind the Iceberg Lounge. She followed the shadows behind the glass panes, reaching into her utility belt to pull out her binoculars and see a bit better.

Something was definitely going on. Robin grinned wide enough to show teeth; time to make a smashing debut. Leaping, she easily crossed the street between the two buildings and crashed through the window, her boot turning the glass into splinters. She landed in a crouch, surveying the room to see the Penguin standing and watching a snaggle of men overpowering a lone fighter, who laid on the ground in obvious defeat.

“It’s Robin! That means the Bat!” One of the goons on the far side of the room, closest to Penguin, yelled in warning. Robin laughed under her breath; at this point, she was a better fighter than Batman, yet he was still the primary inspiration of fear. It was ironic, to say the least.

Though, she was proud of her mentor, and she had to admit that the darker Batman mantle inspired more fear among criminals naturally. However, when she was done with these goons, it’d be Robin who made them quake in her boots.

Robin lunged, swiping the legs out from the man closest to her, and slamming another to the ground with a palm to his chest. The other two goons took off in a messy panic. With a smile, Robin whipped her grappling gun out, catching one and swinging him into the other. The beaten person on the ground started to sit up, but Robin raced over her without a second thought to grab Penguin.

She threw Penguin into a wall by the lapels of his suit, holding him off the ground and meeting his eyes angrily. His floundering feet could only just brush against the ground and he grit his teeth before looking up into her eyes. He was a strange looking man, with his beady eyes and sharp, beak-like nose, and Robin had always found his appearance somewhat disgruntling.

“Robin.” He snarled, emanating anger. Robin levelled him with a glare of her own.

“Good to see you again, Cobblepot. Now, have you seen a girl named Nell Little?” Shifting her weight to support Penguin with one hand, Robin reached into her belt and pulled out a picture of a little black girl with curly hair and a wide smile. The little girl was missing one of her front teeth and wearing a purple sweater, her hair tied in two pigtails with colorful beads. It was the picture Robin had stared at for what felt like hours, wondering if she had ever looked so cute or been so innocent.

She doubted it.

“All business today, Robin? Nothing witty?” Penguin rasped in his stereotypical gangster voice. The man just oozed mafioso.

“I don’t need jokes when your men fight like that.” She retorted. Penguin’s reaction was instant anger; he bared his teeth in annoyance, which only served to further Robin’s pride in her remark. Over the years, she’d had some good ones.

“Fine, I’d rather make this fast. I don't recognize the brat in the photo at all, and I have my own unresolved business, but it doesn’t involve any little girls other than that one.” Penguin pointed and Robin followed his finger, turning to look at the beaten girl on the ground.   
The girl was draped in purple, the bottom half of her face covered by a hospital mask, and her blonde hair tied back in a messy ponytail. Her hood had fallen off her head--presumably in the earlier struggle--and blonde wisps of hair fell messily around her wide, bruised blue eyes. She seemed disoriented but okay, which surprised Robin, given that the girl had surely taken a severe beating. It was Penguin’s hooligans, after all, and there was nothing they enjoyed more than taking low blows.

Robin’s gaze was off of Cobblepot only for a second, but it was enough. Penguin snuck his umbrella out, and, jamming it upwards, he hit Robin’s chest and chin, throwing her backwards. The move wasn’t particularly graceful, but it surprised her enough that, in an one-in-a-million show of ineptitude, she lost her grip.

“Hey!” Robin yelped belatedly, scrambling after him. He sprinted through the door, laughing that annoying squawk of his, but Robin forced herself to stop chasing him and let him get away.

Irritated, she turned away. Penguin was heading to get reinforcements, which would take all of five minutes. Robin could still probably get to him and force out answers about Nell Little, but she’d lost her best opportunity. Besides, she could bust Penguin anytime, but Nell Little couldn’t wait. She was alone and scared, a feeling Robin knew all too well. She needed to refocus and, in the meantime, she had a responsibility help this purple person get out before Penguin could finish with her. Robin walked towards the girl as she sat up.

“That was...that was pretty kickass! I can’t believe I’m meeting Robin!” The girl exclaimed, wiping at some blood under her nose. Robin frowned in disapproval, crossing her arms. “Wait, and withhold judgement! I know how bad this looks, but I’m a serious vigilante! My code name’s Spoiler, I’ve been scoping Penguin out for weeks, and I thought I could take him and a few of his men with my new training, but they were too much for me. Thanks for the assist, I really appreciate--”

“Spoiler, there is a little girl missing. Do you recognize her?” Robin interrupted, before holding up a picture. Spoiler leaned in, squinting at the image, before drawing back with a shrug.

“Well, I don’t know her myself but we can talk to some of my sources and figure it out.”

Ugh. Robin’s knee jerk reaction was that she didn’t want some unknown vigilante who had just suffered a beating accompanying her on the field. Again, she wished Batman was there, as he had the finesse to deal with these types of situations.

Or, maybe it wasn’t finesse. Maybe it was rudeness. But whatever it was, it worked.

“You’re injured,” Robin tried, touching Spoiler’s arm gently. “Maybe you should go home for tonight--”

“Don’t worry! It’s all surface wounds! I’ve had way worse just training with Black Canary, and I wouldn’t ever miss the chance to hang out with the one and only Robin! Besides, my sources wouldn’t trust someone they don’t know. Follow me!”

Spoiler’s absolutely giddy effusion of words dizzied Robin. She shook her head, trying to organize what Spoiler was saying in her mind, and by then Spoiler had already taken off. There was no choice but to follow her, so Robin took off after her, diving out the window. Spoiler also had a grappling gun; giving the cheapness of the rest of her equipment, it must have been a gift from another vigilante.

Robin had never heard of Spoiler, but she knew Black Canary, and if Black Canary was involved with Spoiler, that meant she was likely trustworthy. Black Canary was tough and respectable, though she wasn’t associated with Batman and Robin. She only worked in Gotham occasionally.

It was certainly possible that Spoiler had met her a few times and received a little guidance, even some tools of the trade. For now, Robin felt that Spoiler wasn’t a complete whackjob, and might actually be verifiable. Sure, she had gotten beaten up by Penguin, but it really wasn’t that hard to get hurt on the field. Even with some of the best League of Shadows training available and a pro like Batman by her side, Robin had suffered her fair share of slip-ups. Besides, someone gave Spoiler that grappling gun, and that person wasn’t connected to Batman and Robin and therefore wouldn’t report in. However, to have a working grappling gun they had to be high quality. It could easily be Black Canary, which meant Spoiler really could have been telling the truth.

But it was strange, still. Spoiler wasn’t the typical Gotham personality; she was upbeat, acting all smiley and chatty even after a beating. She was like no one Robin had met before. Robin followed her as they swept by neon signs, which flickered out and disappeared altogether.

They had moved from the main vein of Gotham to the darker, poorer section of Gotham, where people didn’t put neon signs above their buildings, and if they did at least one of the letters had given out, if not most or all of them.

Robin took in the dirty streets and decrepit buildings hesitantly. This wasn’t typically where she would go, at least not without Batman. There were more guns here, and it was too gray; uptown, the criminals were criminals, but here the criminals were desperate, poor citizens.

It was just way too gray. Scary-gray. Here, teenagers were given weapons and threatened onto the streets. Batman was a better judge of who was a threat that needed to be beaten down, and who was a threat that just needed help. Those people, he talked down, and they listened to them. Robin wasn’t good at talking her way out of things.   
Robin didn’t know Spoiler, but she was glad she was there, so she at least wasn’t alone.

Spoiler came to a stop in front of a building, landing with a few steadying steps on the sidewalk. Robin effortlessly followed her lead, staying close and hoping Spoiler knew this place well enough to take the lead and keep it.

“Robin, welcome to the Narrows, my home!” Spoiler yelled, holding her arms out so that the city’s skyline seemed to stand on her shoulders and arms, with its green-gray sky, and the purple twists of pollutants from factories that were spitting plumes of smoke into the city air under the cover of the night sky.

“Your home?” Robin echoed in disbelief. For her earliest years, she had lived in darkness by David’s side, but recently she had become accustomed to the ease of life in Wayne Manor, and the high-tech Batcave. It was strange to realize another vigilante would call the Narrows her home.

Robin’s confusion didn’t seem to bother Spoiler. She nodded cheerfully and kept walking, swerving into an alley, and Robin followed along. As they moved along, Spoiler fell into a happy chatter.

“It might not look like much, I know; I could see your expression Robin. But listen, keep an open mind, and think of it this way: the graffiti up there?” Robin followed Spoiler’s pointer finger up the wall. The dirty black wall was littered with color and drawings of strange shapes and jumbled words. “That’s art, some of it even done by me! This one up here, it’s one of the best ones I’ve found, and it’s probably my all-time favorite. See, it’s a giant bat!”

Spoiler pointed excitedly at her favorite piece of graffiti, practically bouncing as Robin reached her side and craned her neck back, looking up at it. Spoiler was quite a bit taller than her, annoyingly enough, but Robin forgot that as she took in the art on the walls.

Spoiler turned and kept moving, but Robin lingered, entranced by the giant bat symbol painted in red, large and bright and beautiful. The paint glowed on the wall like a heartbeat, and the bat symbol...it was beautiful.

Robin forced herself to turn away from it and follow Spoiler, but she was lost in her thoughts. Sometimes, it was easy to believe that Gotham was haunted by Batman. It was hard to see the good she and Batman did when the Narrows were still so dangerous, and little girls like Nell went missing everyday. Yet, the Bat served as a source of inspiration, and--

Robin lost her train of thought, interrupted by Spoiler’s voice.

“Hey! Robin, don’t fall behind. It’s right up ahead, and people around here don’t really like strangers.”

The two girls carried on, passing stray cats and reaching a door that leaked light. Spoiled grinned enthusiastically at Robin before bouncing up to it, knocking three times.

Almost immediately, a black man opened the door. He was well put together, wearing a red track suit with nice shoes. He had short hair, too short to really curl, but not so short that Robin would call it a buzzcut. He seemed out of place in the crummy building. When he saw Spoiler, he immediately rolled his eyes and smiled playfully.

“Hey, Spoiler, back already?” He asked, leaning in the door and grinning at her. It was obvious they knew each other well, and Robin could sense a companionable friendship between them. He trusted Spoiler, even admired her, which immediately endeared Robin to Spoiler. If others trusted Spoiler, maybe she could too. 

“Yup, Duke, and I need your help!” Spoiler chirped. Duke looked over her head, into the alley’s shadows. He spotted Robin immediately, his smile dropping and eyes widening.

“Spoiler, you brought Robin here?” He asked in surprise, and Robin stepped forward assertively. She might as well own it.

“Yes, she did, and I need help finding a little girl.” Robin continued to surge forward still, gently pushing Spoiler to the side, and holding the picture up in front of Duke.

Duke frowned, no longer leaning comfortably on the doorframe, he now stood in the middle of the door with his arms crossed.

“Have you seen her? Her name is Nell Little.” Robin said, and Duke squinted at the picture.

“Her specifically? No, but someone probably has. Give me that picture and a half hour and I’ll get you some answers. But it isn’t for you or Batman, it’s for her.” With those words, Duke pointed past Robin at Spoiler. Robin met Spoiler’s eyes, and she shrugged somewhat sheepishly under her gaze.

It seemed here, in a random back alley of Gotham, the unknown Spoiler was more popular than Gotham’s Dynamic Duo.


	2. It's Too Soon For Trust

Robin and Spoiler sat on the edge of a building, side by side, their legs dangling casually over the long fall. Robin quietly took in the city, her eyes hazy as she reflected on the current situation.

This was taking too long. She could feel herself getting antsy, just thinking about Nell all alone, and imagining what Batman was doing without her by his side. She despised being separated from him; their profession was a dangerous one, and anything could mean their lives. Sometimes, it didn’t even take a misstep to end up dead in Gotham.

If Batman died, she...Robin shook her head, putting her head into her hands, her gloves rough against her scalp as she squeezed her head, as though trying to squeeze the bad thoughts, the worry, and the fear out of her skull.

She felt eyes on her and whirled around to see Spoiler looking at her.

“What is it?” Robin snapped, a bit too defensive. She hated having witnesses to her vulnerability. She’d only ever let Bruce and Alfred in.

Spoiler seemed taken aback, and Robin could see her thinking through her words carefully. Spoiler wasn’t the type to do that, so Robin must have shaken her up. Robin forced herself to take a breath, straighten herself out. She didn’t want her current partner thinking she was unsteady.

“Nothing,” Spoiler said, gently. “You just seem a bit...antsy. You don’t come to the Narrows much, do you?”

She was giving Robin a way out, so she could just agree and they could drop it. For some reason, Robin felt Spoiler deserved more of an explanation than that. She shook her head.

“No, you’re right, I don’t come here without Batman. Without him, I don’t go much of anywhere. And I don’t like waiting.” Her last words were a bit of a jab, but she’d never been one for pleasantries.

Spoiler tilted her head inquisitively.

“I usually work alone. I kind of rely on people like Duke, so I can promise you that he’s trustworthy. Most of the people in the Narrows are good people, they just want to stay afloat.”

“I’m sure of it.” Robin replied, even though she knew nothing of it. She knew nothing of life outside of training with David Cain or with Batman, yet Spoiler seemed to be an expert.

Robin was used to being seven steps ahead, yet she felt two steps behind. She wished Batman were here; if he were here, he would do the detective work, and she would watch and pretend she was getting something tangible out of it. As if she were some great detective, who could do more than confusedly chasing hints...then again, she always went hard on herself, didn’t she? Alfred always said she needed to stop going so hard on herself.

Robin’s thoughts were interrupted by Spoiler humming. Pulled back to the present, Robin glanced as Spoiler and noticed her examining Robin carefully, eyes wandering over the bright red and green of her costume. Robin averted her gaze quickly, down to her lap where she could look at her hands, engulfed by their chunky green gloves.

“What’s your name?” Spoiler asked suddenly.

“Robin.” She replied quickly, but the answer lacked her normal sharpness. Her voice was abnormally soft. Spoiler jostled Robin suddenly, setting Robin off-edge. She quickly regained her balance, facing Spoiler with wide eyes. Was that teasing? Robin wasn’t sure how to respond, but she could tell Spoiler’s eyes were smiling, even if she couldn’t see her mouth because of the mask.

“No!” Spoiler said, her voice amused. “What’s your real name? Look, if we’re going to be partners, we need to trust each other. So what’s your real name, Robin?”

Oh. Robin, or Cassandra Carolyn Wayne (or “Cassa,” but only to Bruce and Alfred), didn’t know what to do with that. She fell silent, turning from Spoiler’s smiling face to the city. She could see in the way Spoiler’s legs stopped kicking and crossed at the ankles that Spoiler’s feelings were hurt. When she glanced at Spoiler’s face in her peripherals, the hurt was clearly visible in her eyes.

But so was the grit. She wasn’t giving up.

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll start.” Spoiler reached up, taking her half-mask off. Robin turned to watch fully as Spoiler shrugged the purple hood back, turning her face towards Robin. She was pretty, in a sort of average way--the kind of girl you’d expect to see walking in the mall, or eating at your favorite restaurant. Her blonde hair was tied back in that ponytail still, wisps floating around her soft face. She had a little nose, upturned and very lightly freckled, and her eyes were big for her face, her jaws slightly squared. She had such soft features, she looked like she could star in Little House on the Prairie, or something.

She continued, “My name’s Stephanie Brown, and, like I said, I live here in the Narrows. My dad’s name is Arthur Brown, he’s in jail now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Robin said, immediately. Stephanie seemed to mean well, and even though Robin wanted to, Bruce had told her a thousand times not to share her identity with anyone, ever. She couldn’t return the favor.

It felt bad. Worse than bad. If Robin were a poet, she would say something fancy, like that it felt as though her heart were kicked in two. Loyalty to Batman, or solidarity to a new friend: she had to choose.

So she picked loyalty. Always.

But Stephanie was still talking, saying, “It’s fine, I helped put him there. My dad was part of what’s wrong with the Narrows. He was willing to step on everyone around him just to help himself.”

Sounded like the League of Assassins. Or, more personally, like David Cain.

Robin licked her lips before she replied, “There’s a lot wrong with Gotham.” The standard reply. She hoped she wasn’t disappointing Spoiler, who’d said she looked up to Batman and Robin, and now Robin wouldn’t trust her.

But instead of getting annoyed, Stephanie smiled, “Guess we have a lot of work to do, huh?” Spoiler said, lifting her hand up. She held it by her head. “High five?”

Robin frowned in confusion. High five? What? Nervously, she reached out, taking the hand and pulling it down to shake it, like she shook the hands of 

Bruce’s friends and coworkers. Spoiler laughed uncertainty, shaking it back, and the two exchanged a smile.

“Well, yes, I-I guess we do have a lot to do…” Robin said. She wasn’t sure how to react to this situation, or all the weird butterflies in her stomach. Being homeschooled, she didn’t meet a lot of people her age, so it must be that she had made a new…

Friend? Was Spoiler her friend?

Spoiler laughed again, “Yeah, and first we have to rescue Nell Little! Speaking of, Duke just texted and said he has the info now, so let’s go check it out!”

Spoiler leapt up, excitedly leading the way, and Robin followed along quietly. Her first impression of Stephanie was that she was, well, weird. She was so amiable, despite Gotham’s darkness. Robin thought of herself as Batman’s light, but she didn’t know what her own light was. Stephanie was alone, and she seemed to glow alongside Gotham, or maybe in contrast to Gotham...Cassandra wished she could do that.

They reached the alley again, and Robin stopped to peer at the red and black bat on the wall, reaching up to put her hand on it. On her tip toes, she could just touch the red tip of the bat symbol’s wings. Maybe, it should have been purple.

Robin had to fast-walk to catch up with Spoiler. They arrived at Duke’s doorstep with Robin on Spoiler’s heels. Duke leaned against his doorframe, holding the picture loosely between his index and middle finger. He stretched out his arm and Robin nabbed it immediately, gazing down at the tiny Nell Little again. It felt good to have her picture in her hands, as though the picture somehow kept Robin tied to the little girl herself.

“One of Black Mask’s men said she looked like a girl he saw. Apparently, they’re rounding up the prettiest girls they can find and taking them to the docs. They want to ship them to Russia for easy pocket change. Some rich guy wants about six of them. You two better hurry, she could already be gone.” Duke’s voice was urgent, and Robin could see that he really cared about these girls. Maybe, helping Spoiler was Duke’s way of fixing Gotham.

Not everyone had to be a vigilante to help out. Just look at Alfred. Every good deed counted.

“Thanks, Duke,” Stephanie replied, turning to ask Robin what their next move was. By the time she’d turned, Robin was already grappling away. She snatched Spoiler by the waist, and Spoiler wrapped her arms around Robin’s shoulders as the two of them travelled in a hurry.

As Robin pulled Spoiler along, she thought. It might be cheesy, but Robin knew that Gotham wasn’t equal parts dark and light. And though the darkness might be greater, she refused to let it swallow Nell Little up. She would bring her back to the light, before it was too late.

They reached the docks fast, and Robin set Stephanie down gently before falling into a crouch. Spoiler attentively copied her, following her lead to the edge of the roof. The two girls peered over, and Robin smiled.

“Good. There are still men down there, guarding the ship. They haven’t left yet, so the girls are still there.”

Spoiler grinned enthusiastically, “Perfect! Let’s introduce ourselves, using our fists!” Robin could see how Spoiler had gotten herself beaten at Penguin’s place. She didn’t like to sit around planning, but, rather, liked to jump straight into the action. She was just like an exuberant little puppy. Robin kind of wanted to pat her head and give her a treat, but instead she held her hand out, blocking Spoiler from going forward.

“Simmer down. We need to go in carefully. I’ll distract the guards, you move into the ship and escort the girls out. Get them somewhere safe.” It felt weird to be the one leading and giving orders. She kind of liked it.

“Oh...okay, you got it Robin! I’ll let you take care of the action, and focus on the escorting.” It was sarcasm. Robin frowned.

“Your part of the mission is equally important, if not more important, than mine.” Dear God, she sounded exactly like Bruce. Robin clenched her jaw, and then, realizing she now looked like Bruce, unclenched it. She could suddenly sympathize with her mentor’s occasionally annoying bossiness.

Luckily, Spoiler accepted that with a sarcastic smile and salute before moving sneakily towards the ally, getting an angle on the ship.

Refocusing on her own half of the mission, Robin looked down at the guards again. Counting the ones inside and on top of the ship, there were a lot of them, but nothing she couldn’t handle, with ease. But it wasn’t about fighting them, it was about distracting them and drawing as many of them out of the ship as possible. That way, Stephanie could make her move with little interference.

There was no time like the present. Robin took a deep breath; here goes nothing.

First things first, Robin threw a handful of birdarangs, stunning the men on top of the ship. Immediately after that, she threw a handful of small explosives, rendering their guns useless. Then, she leapt off the roof, throwing several flash bangs in perfect arcs, so they startled several of the guards. She threw another ball at two of them, watching as it burst into pink foam, swallowing them up and rendering them immobile.

“It’s Robin!” One of the unaffected men yelled. He moved fast, aiming his gun directly at Robin’s head. He was point blank in range.

She smirked. Time for her trademark move. He didn’t waste a second shooting, but she dodged fast, evading each bullet and coming gradually closer to him. Without a second’s hesitation, she wrenched the gun from his hands and slammed it into his head with just enough pressure to leave him unconscious.

With that, more men poured out of the ship, yelling obscenities. They rushed out loudly and, quiet as an ally cat, Spoiler slipped in behind them. Perfect. She might have been unrefined, but, with guidance, Spoiler could really grow to be something.

Robin grinned, scanning her opponents with their shiny, fresh guns and angry eyes. Then, more tigress than bird, she leapt.


	3. Stephanie's Turn

Inside the ship, all Stephanie could hear was her own breathing. Well, okay, maybe that wasn’t everything; she also heard the buzz of the dim lights hanging above her, and she both heard and felt the sloshing of the water against the outside of the boat. She didn’t like the gentle sway of boats, because they made her feel perpetually off-balance, as though her life wasn’t off-balance enough.  
Though, to be fair, she supposed she was doing better than she had in weeks; she was working alongside THE Robin, after all, and Robin seemed to sorta like her. Which was really cool. Like, really, really cool.

Stephanie shook her head. No, Steph, focus. Be careful, be steady even if the boat isn’t. And watch ahead, because, down the hall, she saw a guard.

Holding her breath, she crept along the hallway, silent as a mouse, hugging the wall he was turned away from him. She angled herself behind him and, sucking in a breath, leaped up and grabbed him.

He shouted and she scrambled with him somewhat confusedly, keeping his gun out of his hands before finally knocking him out with a hit to the head. Everything was an adrenaline-laced blur, to the point she couldn’t clearly remember the steps of the fight she’d literally just been in two seconds ago. She also had this weird feeling, like something was squishing her lungs, and a potent vision of what would have happened if the guard had managed to get her in the crosshairs of his gun lurked in the back of her mind.

She angrily knocked her fist against her head, as though trying to organize her thoughts. “Ugh, Steph, come on! Focus! Robin isn’t the only badass here!” She hissed at herself. And, as though that little whisper had been a shout, her little outburst just had to draw attention.

“Hey! Stop right there!” The yell cut through the relative silence of the ship, effectively spooking Spoiler. She whirled around to see a guard with his gun aimed at her head and did what any sane person would do: she sprinted around the curve of the hall, covering her head as a spray of bullets landed just above her. The guard was still running after her, but she was sick of flubbing up; now, it was badass time.

She forced herself to stop running, despite her burst of adrenaline and natural preference for flight over fight, and stood rigid just beyond the corner. The guard sprinted around the corner, and Stephanie brought the heels of her hands up, hard, slamming his chin backward. Then she raised her hands in interlocked fists above her head, bringing them down lightning-fast on his skull.

She pulled the mask over her mouth down, catching her breath and grinning.

Not bad. If only Robin could’ve seen that!

Pulling her mask back up, she kept walking, heading further into the boat. All of her senses were peaked, though it became increasingly obvious to her that Robin had successfully lured pretty much all of the men outside. The second one who had spotted her had probably been on his way outside, if she was being honest with herself. Calling his attention had probably been her own mistake.

Well, what was the saying? Everyone made mistakes. And she’d brought him down hard in the end. It was like Black Canary said; Stephanie had some sort of hidden strength.

Eventually, Spoiler reached a staircase. She followed it down, coming to a locked metal door. She bit her lip, before trying the door. Nothing.

“This might be a problem. Okay, Steph, think, think, think.” She muttered to herself, too wrapped up in the mission to care that she was, again, thinking aloud, and looked around. It was a dank, dusty bottom of a ship, with all the typical things, which meant that there was, of course, a sizeable red fire axe in a glass box on the wall to her left. “Bingo!”

Stephanie rushed to the box, using her momentum to kick through the glass. She hefted the giant axe, feeling like a regular lumber jack as she headed back to the locked door. She raised it shakily above her head--steady, Steph--before bringing it down, hard, on the handle. The door made a noise almost like an animal whining (Steph: one, inanimate objects: zero; for today, anyway), and Stephanie kicked the door open dramatically.

Inside the room sat a half dozen girls, holding each other and trembling. Stephanie really hoped none of them had been sitting behind the door during her dramatic, hero-kicks-the-door-down moment, but, she figured, if one had, they’d all probably be screaming. Regardless, she pulled the door forward and glanced behind it to make sure it was all-clear; thankfully, no little girls had been used as a doorstop.

Then the reality of little girls in a slave trade trembling and crying crashed down on Steph and she felt like she was going to be ill. She probably would have been, if the little girls hadn’t leaped to their feet in the next moment, running to her and throwing their arms around her, crying and laughing and thanking her. She stooped down, pulling them in and letting them hug her, feeling herself wanting to cry with them (fine, she'll admit it, Stephanie Brown is a total sap), but she wanted to be their strong hero more so she kept the tears in.

“You’re all safe now. Come on, girls, let’s go.” Stephanie said, looking up and over the heads of the little girls surrounding her. And there, in the corner of the room, she saw her hugging her knees, one of her thumbs casually stuck into her mouth. It was the girl Robin had been desperately searching for.

Nell Little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. Stephanie is, typically, a better fighter than that. But please keep in mind that she's a new vigilante who hasn't endured the rigorous training Cassandra has, putting them at very different places as far as skill level goes! As time moves on, Stephanie will get a lot better, I promise!


	4. The End Of The Beginning

Stephanie left the ship, holding about six of the girls’ hands all at once, the rest crowding around her, to find Robin dusting herself off. The guards laid around her, tied up and secured, and suddenly Stephanie felt very small about her earlier badass takedown.

Robin shot her a cocky grin, casually finger-brushing her sleek dark bob (it didn’t need it; darn her, Robin was almost perfect), and Spoiler couldn’t keep her amazement to herself for a second more. “Wow, you took them all out that fast?” She asked, awestruck. Robin rewarded her with the cutest, giddiest grin Spoiler had ever seen, and, for once, Spoiler was glad for her eternal struggle with keeping her thoughts to herself.

“It was cake,” Robin beamed, and all of Spoiler’s insecurity dissolved into happiness for her friend. She could barely hear what Robin said next. “Good work, Spoiler. I’ve got all the criminals secured, and the police have been called. You stay with the girls, I need to…” Robin spotted Nell Little and paused, obviously completely distracted by Nell.

Robin stooped down and smiled at the little girl, taking her hands gently and holding them in her chunky green gloves. Her little hands looked so small and fragile cupped in Robin’s. A thousand emotions manifested as a single thought: a girl missing in Gotham is found.

And Robin is now, officially, a detective.

“Hi, Nell,” Robin said, her voice softening. She could feel Spoiler watching her. “Your mother is looking for you.”

“Hi, Robin.” Nell replied, shyly. Robin could see she was dazed, still gripped by shock, and, surely, fear. Spoiler had done well getting the girls out of there and comforting them all, but there was little either could do for guiding a kidnapped girl out of shock. Robin gently brushed a few of Nell’s loose curls back from her face, feeling a maternal urge swelling up in her chest, replacing her pride at finding the girl with a deep desire to get her home.

“Can I take you home?” Robin asked. The little girl nodded, before wrapping her arms around Robin’s neck. Robin picked her up carefully, as if Alfred was watching her handle the China plates, and held her gently. She felt warm and small, like a little kitten clinging to Robin’s body armor.

Before she left, she looked to Spoiler, making sure she could leave her with the other girls. They exchanged a single glance and Spoiler understood immediately, giving her a thumbs up and a nose-crinkling smile, so Robin took off.

She grappled through the city, Nell Little clinging to her, but Robin held her so tightly that even if she let go she wouldn’t drop her. For Robin, rescuing Nell was more than making sure a little girl got home. Nell Little’s mother was a police officer who occasionally helped Batman and Robin out, giving clues and tips when Gordon couldn’t. Robin knew the story of how Nell went missing too well; she was a little six year old girl at a playground with her dad, the playground they went to all the time. Nell’s favorite. Her dad left for five minutes to grab ice cream cones across the street.

Five minutes, with her dad across the street--he could look over his shoulder and see her--and someone had taken her. Nell was just an ordinary girl; she liked adventure books, painting butterflies, and dressing like princesses. This was Gotham’s overwhelming darkness, the darkness that Cassandra knew too well. The darkness she’d lived her entire life cloaked in.

Robin reached the balcony suddenly. She grappled up to it, landing in a squat on the railing, feeling almost like a kangaroo with Nell clinging to her frontside. The apartment was placed so that a giant, pink neon sign shown straight to their right, silhouetting Nell and her entirely. She covered Nell’s face so the neon light didn’t burn her eyes, though she supposed the little girl was probably used to it. Gently, she pulled Nell off of her, setting her on her feet on the balcony.

“Thank you, Robin. You saved me.” Nell said, looking up at Robin with an adoring smile. Then, she surged upwards, giving Cassandra a huge hug that caught her off-guard. “You’re my hero!” Nell announced, before turning and bolting to the screen door. She pulled it open, and Robin watched quietly as Nell’s mother heard the door open and came running.

Upon seeing her daughter, her entire body language changed into something desperate and wild with love. She threw herself on her daughter in a giant hug, weeping and pulling Nell to her hurriedly, but still carefully, never moving in a way that could hurt her.

That, right there, was Gotham’s light. A mother and daughter reunited, embracing.

That was what Robin would fight for. She was tired of the darkness; with Bruce, she had found the light, and she had also found a way to bring others’ light. She could guide them away from the darkness. Like Bruce, she would die to protect that.  
Nell’s mother glanced up, meeting Robin’s eyes but crying too hard to smile or thank her. Robin didn’t want a thank you. She smiled genuinely and gave a little salute, not even conscious that she was imitating Spoiler.

She let herself fall backwards off the balcony, twisting midair and grappling off. She headed back to the docks, unable to keep the smile from her lips. So much had happened recently, she felt her head would burst. In the years since Bruce had saved her from the League and brought her to the Manor, and since then had raised her, she had found a new and better life. But she still had questions about her old one.

After seeing Nell with her mother, she could only wonder who her own mother was? She supposed she didn’t have one; after all, she didn’t even know if David Cain was her real father.

Wait--she did know that. Batman was her real father, and, even if they were biologically related, David Cain was nothing.  
Batman was her dad, and she missed him. She wanted to see him again, to tell him how the mission went and, hopefully, get a long hug.

Robin reached the docks, refocusing. She looked down to see the little girls sitting together, wrapped up in shock blankets and surrounded by worrying adults. They were being organized and questioned so that the authorities could figure out who their parents were and get them home. Meanwhile, the cops were arresting the responsible criminals and carting them off. Good.

Though Robin did have one concern: there was no trace of Spoiler. Where could she have gone? Even if Robin couldn’t find the right words, a thank you seemed appropriate, and, well, maybe...they could see each other again? At the very least, Robin wanted to see Spoiler meet Batman. She imagined they would get along.

But, Spoiler had left. Robin sighed, supposing it was time she left too, and she grappled back the way she’d came. She took a long route though, heading to the Narrows, not because it was Spoiler’s home and she’d probably headed that way, but because the fresh air was good and she needed to think, and…

Robin stopped thinking when she saw a figure silhouetted by a neon sign on the building where she and Spoiler had waited for Duke. She changed her course, heading straight for it, and as she got closer she could make out Spoiler sitting on the edge, mask and hoodie off. She took a huge bite out of a cheeseburger, waving cheerfully to Robin despite the slushy in her other hand.

Robin landed, and, not knowing what to say, she grinned. Maybe a joke? “You look pretty carefree.” Robin said. It wasn’t really a joke, more of an observation. Ugh, maybe next time she’d do better.

Spoiler’s mouth was full, but she set her slushy down, eagerly patting the spot next to her. Robin took the hint and sat down beside her. Now that she was beside Spoiler, she felt weird about telling her all the things she’d been thinking, especially the thing about them seeing each other again.

“Don’t worry, Robin, I got enough for you too! I didn’t know where we would meet up again, so I just figured I’d go to the spot where we waited for Duke!” Stephanie said around the cheeseburger in her mouth. With her free hand, she jabbed a bag at Cassandra. She took it and opened it, finding a matching burger and slushy.

Batman preferred for her to eat healthy. Cassandra had a serious sweet tooth, and she tended to spend her extra calories gorging on Alfred’s desserts. In fact, she only ate Alfred’s cooking, and Bruce generally decided what he made.

Truth be told, Cassandra had never once ate a cheeseburger, because Bruce had told her they were unhealthy. She didn’t really want to try it and like it, adding yet another treat to her list of things Bruce wouldn’t let her eat.

“I’m...not a big burger fan.” Robin lied. Spoiler shrugged.

“It’s from the best burger joint in the Narrows. Just try it.” She said, and Robin followed her advice. She sipped her slushy tentatively, but the cold seeped through the bones of her teeth, making her roots tingle with freezing, icy sugar.

She set it down quickly, taking a nibble of cheeseburger instead. She was hit by a wave of grease that tasted how Gotham’s pollution looks. She set the burger down too, deciding she preferred Alfred’s cooking over fast food. Vastly.

“Hey…” Spoiler said, pausing after she said it before shrugging in a way that was forced. She was trying to seem nonchalant, but still tense with nerves. That was interesting. “Um, so I was wondering...well, I wrote down my phone number, and I’d like to hang out again. You had some really incredible moves and I sort of realized my martial arts still need some work, so maybe we could, just like, train together? You know, mutually beneficial stuff? I could use the skills boost, you the self-esteem boost--” that made Robin giggle, giving Spoiler the confidence to keep going. “--and I could actually learn your real name and we could hang out, maybe catch up on Friends or some other tv show, you know...be friends ourselves…” Stephanie trailed off, biting her lip and wondering if her jabbering had made any sort of impact on Robin. She was sort of scared to look and see.

Robin touched her shoulder gently. Stephanie looked up to find Robin smiling at her.

“I’d love to be friends, Stephanie.” Robin said. She was glad she didn’t have to ask, and flattered that Stephanie had wanted to be friends with her on her own. Stephanie returned the smile with a goofy grin before taking the last bite of her cheeseburger. She spoke with food in her mouth, making Robin crinkle her nose and think of Alfred, who would have slapped Stephanie for that breach of manners.

“Awesome! Tonight’s a school night, so I have to take off, but my number’s written on your cheeseburger wrapper! Bye, Robin!” With a wave, Spoiler grappled off, still gripping her slushy. Robin sat alone, the hum and glow of the neon sign adding an unreachable edge to her little spot. Well, her and Spoiler’s spot. The thought that she had a special place she shared with another person made her smile. 

She brought the slushy to her lips again, sucking a little more out and cringing at the taste, before deciding, maybe. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe it was worth trying again. She took another sip, shutting her eyes to the neon lights and savoring the sweet taste on her tongue instead of letting it run over her teeth. Keeping it on her tongue, it felt good.

Gotham might be dark, but Robin knew a way to make it brighter. She could be her own light. Opening her eyes, Robin smiled, so focused on the happiness bubbling up in her chest that she almost jumped when her comms fizzled. She picked up immediately.

“Robin?” She grinned at the gruff, familiar voice, another surge of happiness hitting her.

“Yes, Batman?” She replied.

“Did you find Nell?” All business, as usual. Robin found it easy to fall back into tune with him.

“Yes, I did.”

“Good work, Cassa,” she shut her eyes, savoring the praise. It was sweeter than the slushy, almost sweet enough to bring a tear to her eyes. Sometimes, having a father like Bruce felt too good to be true. “Now, I need you uptown. The Chinese Triad and Falcone’s men are at war. Again. I could use your help with a few of these assassins, and I think it would be good practice for you.”

“Got you. I’ll be right there!” She replied, turning off her comms and springing to her feet. Standing on the edge of the roof, she paused, looking back at the burger and slushy. She squatted, quickly unwrapping the rest of the burger and examining the number. Glancing around, Robin crumpled the wrapper up, sticking it into a rarely used pocket on her utility belt.

Ready to see her dad again, Robin turned hurriedly and grappled off, disappearing into the pollution-stained night, leaving a slushy and an unwrapped cheeseburger silhouetted in the neon purple light.


End file.
